Aboitiz power projects on track for 2015

ABOITIZ POWER reported that construction is ongoing for several projects committed by the company to deliver additional power by 2015 to hard-up Mindanao grid.

The company has committed P35 billion in new investments to add more capacity to Mindanao, which is experiencing an acute power shortage on a daily basis.

The shortage is expected to worsen with the coming summer months and the ensuing low water levels in Lake Lanao.

Subsidiary Therma South Inc., which is building a 300-MW, 24/7 baseload coal power plant in southern Davao City, has deployed close to one thousand workers on its construction site and is expected to escalate the manpower requirements in the next few months.

"Thanks to the support of our host barangays and local government units as well as various government agencies, we are on our way in meeting our committed completion target in 2015," Therma South president and COO Benjamin A. Cariaso Jr. said.

"This power plant will hopefully bring a long-term solution to the ongoing power crisis, by providing 300-MW of reliable baseload power to Mindanao power users thru the electric cooperatives which have and will sign up with us," he said.

Another subsidiary, Hedcor Inc., is moving full-swing on the construction of its Tudaya 1 and 2 run-of-river hydro power plants, with more than 300 workers at the two sites in Barangays Astorga and Sibulan, both in Cruz Davao del Sur.

The two facilities will combine for 13 megawatts of reliable and renewable power. The two facilities will be completed by 2014.

"Aside from our goal of supplying renewable power to our customers, we have given livelihood opportunities and development projects to our far-flung host communities, which make us extra proud of our project," Hedcor COO Rene B. Ronquillo said.

He said Hedcor is also in the planning stages of several other projects that will add more renewable capacity to the grid in the medium term.

Therma South is using the latest circulating fluidized-bed combustion technology to ensure the clean coal power plant will meet stringent government health and environment standards.

Hedcor, on the other hand has 30 years of leadership and expertise on the run-of-river hydro power technology. It currently supplies 155 MW of renewable hydro power to Luzon and Mindanao.